Book Review: The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

The Spanish Love Deception

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The Spanish Love Deception 〰️

Actual Rating: 3.5/5

So, I accidentally read the second book (The American Roommate Experiment) first, not knowing it was a spinoff. (It reads perfectly well as a standalone if you are a dumbass like me and want to start there). I absolutely loved the second book. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy and all that weird jazz. I absolutely loved Rosie and her story. So I thought, now I HAVE to read the first book, see more of Rosie (but obviously in the background), see how Lina and Aaron get together and so on.

Usually, a second book can be a hit or a miss. Sometimes, they're just as good as the first. Sometimes better. Sometimes, they don't live up to the expectations. The second book (which was my first) was a smash hit with me. Now that I've finally read the first book? I feel like it's the crappy sequel.

Don't get me wrong, I still very much enjoyed the read. But it was nowhere near as good as the second book and had some issues. They only get to Spain like halfway though the book so it takes until then for things to start getting all romancy. That Open House thing Lina had to plan at the start that was made a big deal of? It's barely mentioned until the end and hardly happens on the page. (Which I guess is a good thing as that would have been boring to read, but like, why include it at all?) Also, the book's first half seems to set Lina up for an ED, and it gets pretty serious for a bit. But then Aaron is basically like, don't do that, and she's like, okay, and then it was never brought up again? I'm not sure why it was included if there wasn't a) going to be a discussion on it or b) not going to go anywhere. Actually, it didn't need to be in the novel at all.

Also, this book is full of the miscommunication trope, second cousin, not talking about your feelings as an adult to another adult. The book could have been so much shorter if Lina just talked about what she felt about Aaron and asked if he wasn't pretending to like her. It irked it. So much that I used the word irked.

At least when the romance started to happen (which took a hot min), I enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy it as much as Rosie's story.

As a side note, I also expected more of Rosie in this book, seeing how she got her own novel. I thought fans probably read the first book and couldn't get enough of her, so that's why Armas had to write her story. (She's barely in it or mentioned compared to how long this book was). Not that this is a big issue; I just wondered why Armas decided to write Rosie's story. Though, as spoilers for me, we do see a bit of how Lina and Aaron end up, and they cameo, so there's that.

So, I guess I'm unsure how to feel about this book. I truly liked it, but I also didn't. It's weird. I'd still recommend it, but I also recommend book two more.

Book Review: The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas

The American Roommate Experiment

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The American Roommate Experiment 〰️

We get it; Lina and Rosie are best friends. You don't have to state that every time they even think about each other.

Okay, that snarky comment aside, this book. Urg! I loved it so much! As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I prefer reading "gay" romances, though I do enjoy reading about "the straights," too. Just not as much. Until now. The only thing that would make this romance book absolutely perfect (for me) was if the two MCs were of the same gender. (Though I love that there was an LGBTQ+ rep, and it wasn't made a big deal, so props for that).

Seriously though, how could Rosie NOT fall in love with Lucas? Even me, a lesbian, was in love with him. I can see how everything in this book could be considered cheesy, but I'll be honest, I'm a massive sucker for over-the-top cheesy romance, and this book nailed it.

The only thing I wasn't 100% on board with was that Rosie was already super-crushing on Lucas before he entered the picture. I love a good friends-to-lovers trope; I even wrote a whole book about it, but having her already be into him is like having the ending spoiled. Yes, we know they're going to get together. It's a romance, after all, but I wanted to read about her falling in love with him from scratch and not already having a leg up in the competition, so to speak. Even Lucas was immediately infatuated with her. Which kind of made me want to smash their lips together because they were both not being adults and not communicating how they truly felt. Lots of heartache could have been solved early on if they didn't have simultaneously excellent and poor communication skills. (I get the miscommunication trope is excellent for tension in this genre, but still).

When I bought this book, I wasn't aware that it was kind of a sequel/spin-off of another book, The Spanish Love Deception. But I read it anyway. Thankfully, it works just as well as a standalone in case you are an idiot like me and don't realize this was book two. (But since I loved this book so much, I obviously had to get the other book so I could read about how Lina and Aaron fell in love. I mean, I guess that's a spoiler for The Spanish Love Deception, but not really. It's a romance. If they didn't end up together at the end, it's not a romance).

That said, I loved reading these two fall harder for each other as the novel went on. It's the kind of romance fantasy I can escape into (and secretly wish I had, haha). I'm not sure if the first book can top this one. I truly loved these cheaters and their stories. But now I have to read book one to see Rosie from Lina's POV and read her story.

If you're looking for a cute romance, this is for sure worth the read. You don't even need to read The Spanish Love Deception to enjoy it! (Like me!) Though I'm still going to read book one now. I want more of these characters in any way I can.